ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA BEFORE THE ADVENT OF

TELESCOPES

Gnomon - a primitive version of sundial

Babylonian and Egyptian civilizations used a primitive version of a sundial, called

gnomon, to systematically observe the sun's motion.
By looking at the gnomon’s shadows, they were able to observe that the sun rises in the
eastern part of the sky, reaches its highest point in midday, and sets in the western part of the
sky.

PHASES OF THE MOON

- Ourmoon, also called a satellite, is a relatively small object that is orbiting around a
planet.

Types of Satellites
Natural Satellite
Artificial Satellite

- Earth’s moon is the fifth biggest moon in the solar system. As we will see, several other
planets in the solar system also have moons.
- On average, the distance between the Earth and the moon is 384,000 kilometers.

THE EIGHT (8) PHASES OF THE MOON

 Waxing Gibbous
 Full Moon
 Waning Gibbous
 Last Quarter
 Waning Crescent
 New Moon
 Waxing Crescent
 First Quarter

As the moon orbits the Earth, we see a different phase of the moon. It takes 27 days, 7
hours, and 43 minutesfor our Moon to complete one full orbit around Earth. This is called the
sidereal month and is measured by our Moon's position relative to distant “fixed” stars.
However, it takes our Moon about 29.5 days to complete one cycle of phases (from full
Moon to full Moon).

The first half of the moon cycle begins with the new moon (totally dark; we see nothing) and
climaxes with the full moon.
 The new moon phase occurs when the sun, moon, and earth

New Moon
A new moon appears only when the moon is on the side of the earth most directly in line with
the sun.
There is no illumination on the earth’s side, so it is also sometimes called the dark moon.

First quarter.
Half the side of the moon facing the earth appears illuminated.
It rises about noon, reaches its high point for the day at sundown, and sets near midnight.
Full Moon.
The whole side of the moon is now illuminated to viewers from the earth.
The full moon rises in the east as the sun sets in the west.
It stays up all night long, reaching its highest point about midnight.

Third, or last quarter.

Like the first quarter, it is seen illuminated on half the side facing the earth.
The third quarter moon rises about midnight, is highest at dawn, and sets about noon.
 DIFFERENCES OF LUNAR
AND SOLAR ECLIPSES

PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES

As the sun revolves around the ecliptic, it intersects the celestial equator twice during a year at
two points.

These points are called the equinoxes: vernal (spring)and autumnal.

- During an equinox, the length of daytime is almost equal to the length of nighttime.
- Vernal or spring equinox happens every March 20while autumnal equinoxoccurs every
September 22.
 EARLY MODELS OF THE UNIVERSE
THE SPHERICAL EARTH
During ancient times, Earth is perceived to be flat where early Babylonians, Chinese,
Egyptian and Hebrew civilizations believed that Earth had corners.
This belief was opposed by some early Greek philosophers who believed that the Earth was
spherical.

Navigators such as Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) and Juan Sebastian Elcano

(1476-1526) were given credit for circumnavigating the world and proving that the Earth is not
flat.
- Pythagoras-started the idea of the spherical Earth
- Plato–educated his students on the sphericity of Earth but made no justifications.

In 500 to 430 B.C., Anaxagoras further supported Pythagoras' proposal through his
observations of the shadows that the Earth cast on the Moon during a lunar eclipse.

- Aristotle–noted that there were stars that could not be seen on other parts of Earth.
This phenomenon was only possible if Earth had a curved surface.
- Eratosthenes–estimated the circumference of the Earth.

DIFFERENT MODELS OF THE UNIVERSE

Anaxagoras

EUDOXUSOF CNIDUS(CA. 400 BCE –CA. 355 BCE)

- He was considered the first astronomer to explain the retrograde motion of the planets in
the sky.
 - He found out the differences in the motion of each planet that should be considered to
give an accurate description of the universe.
- According to Eudoxus’ model, the universe was composed of Earth, Five other planets
(that are visible with the unaided eye, namely: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and
Saturn), Sun, Moon and motionless stars which were enclosed in spheres.

EUDOXUSOF CNIDUS(CA. 400 BCE –CA. 355 BCE)

- Earth was motionless at the center of the universe where each of the five planets was
enclosed in four concentric circles.
- The Sun and the Moon were each enclosed in three concentric spheres and lastly, the
group of motionless stars lay in the outermost sphere.

ARISTOTLE
- Just like Eudoxus, he perceived Earth was at the center of the universe and was
stationary.
- He believed so because Earth is too big to move; thus it could not rotate. Other celestial
bodies were built up symmetrically in concentric spherical rings around Earth.
- He further believed that each ring is was in physical contact with one another. This
means that the motion of a heavenly body in one sphere will affect the motion of a
nearby heavenly body.
- Both models of Eudoxusand Aristotle were considered geocentric, this means that both
astronomers believed that Earth was at the center of the universe.

ARISTARCHUS OF SAMOS (310 BCE –230 BCE)

- Aristarchus (310 BCE –230 BCE) was a Greek astronomer who made the first attempt to
create a heliocentricmodel, which places the sun at the center of the universe.
- He proposed that the sun and the fixed stars were at rest, while the Earth revolve around
the sun in a circular path.
- The only work of Aristarchus that survived was entitled “On the Sizes and Distances of
the Sun and the Moon where he calculated the sizes of the sun and the moon and their
distances from Earth by estimating the relative angles of the moon and the sun from
Earth.
- He has the following assumptions:
(a)Earth was spherical,
(b)it is far from the sun and
(c)moon passes through the Earth’s shadow when they align.

ERATOSTHENES
HIPPARCUS OF NICAEA

CLAUDIUS PTOLEMAEUS(PTOLEMY)
- In the Ptolemaic universe, it is assumed that Earth was at the center of the universe,
while the other celestial bodies revolved around Earth in perfect circles with constant
velocity.
- Ptolemy (100 AD –178 AD) assumed that the planets revolved on epicycles(small
spheres) which moved around the deferents(larger spheres).
- He also added that the stars belonged to the celestial sphere which was located beyond
the planetary spheres.
- The center of the deferent is called the eccentric.
- The repositioning of the Earth was done to explain the why where there differences in
the lengths of the season. In this model, a certain heavenly body will move around the
epicycle and at the same time move around the different.
- Ptolemy also developed the concept of equantwhich was a point close to the orbit’s
center. If an observer stays in the equant, he would see that the epicycle seems to move
at a constant rate.

NICOLAUS COPERNICUS (1473 –1543)

- During the 16thcentury, Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, revived the heliocentric
model of Aristarchus.
- He was hesitant to publish his findings because he was afraid of condemnation. His
works were only published a year before his death.
- Copernicus strongly believed in the heliocentric model because there were loopholes in
the Ptolemaic model in terms of predicting the positions of the planets.
- Copernicus concluded that:heavenly bodies exhibited constant circular and perpetual
motion along their epicycles; the sun was at the center of the universe; and
the order of the planets from the sun is Mercury, Venus, Earth (and Moon), Mars, - Jupiter,
Saturn and beyond the planets were the fixed stars.

TYCHOBRAHE
- Unlike Copernicus, Brahe believe in a geocentric universe, but his idea of geocentric
universe is slightly different from Ptolemy’s.
 - Brahe’s model of the universe, called Tychonicsystem, Earth was the center and the sun
and the moon revolve around it, and all other planets orbited the sun. Such model was a
type of the geocentric system.

MODERN ASTRONOMY
In July 1969, Neil Armstrong(1930 –2012) once said, “One small step of man, one giant leap
for mankind.”

Isaac Newton developed and formalized Galileo’s concept of inertia. He conceptualized the
force of gravity and he was able to provide an explanation for the elliptical orbits.

Galileo Galilei was the greatest Italian scientist of the Renaissance. Due to the telescope, he
was able to discover and observe important astronomical facts.

Johannes Kepler Using his mentor’s data, he formulated the three laws of planetary motion:
the law of Ellipse, Law of Equal Areas, and the Law of harmonies.

Tycho Brahe believed that only the sun and the moon revolved around the earth; the other
planets revolved around the sun, which itself revolved around the earth.

Nicolaus Copernicus considered the sun as the stationary center of the universe. He classified
earth as a planet just like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Tycho Brahe
- Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer and nobleman who made accurate observations
of the movement of celestial bodies in an observatory built for him by King Frederick II of
Denmark in 1576.
 - He was able to invent different astronomical instruments, with the help of his assistants,
and made an extensive study of the solar system. He was able to determine the position
of 777 fixed stars accurately.

Johannes Kepler
- When King Frederick II died, and the successor did not fully support Brahe’s work, he
moved to Prague in 1599 where he was supported by Emperor Rudolf II and worked as
an imperial mathematician.
- Emperor Rudolf II recommended Johannes Kepler to work for him as an assistant.
Kepler was born to a poor German family and studied as a scholar at the University of
Tübingen in 1589.

Brahe and Kepler's Work

- Brahe and Kepler had an unsteady working relationship. Kepler was Brahe's assistant.
However, Brahe mistrusted Kepler with his astronomical data in fear of being shadowed
by his assistant.
- Brahe assigned to Kepler the interpretation of his observations of Mars, whose
movement did not match Brahe’s calculations. Kepler was tasked to figure out what path
Mars followed as it revolved around the Sun. It was believed by many scientists that
Brahe gave this task to Kepler to keep him occupied and left Brahe to develop his laws
of planetary motion.

Kepler's Discoveries from Brahe's Data

- Kepler postulated:there must be a force from the Sun that moves the planets
force would explain the orbit of Mars and the Earth, including all the other planets, moved
fastest when it is nearest from the Sun and moved slowest when it is farthest from the Sun.
- Eventually, Brahe decided to give all his data to Kepler hoping that he would be able to
prove his Tychonic system and put together new tables of astronomical data.

This table was known as Rudolphine Tables, named after the Roman emperor and was useful
in determining the positions of the planets for the past 1000 years and the future 1000 years.
\

Emperor Rudolf IIof the Holy Roman Empire

- After Brahe died in 1601, Emperor Rudolf II assigned Kepler as the new imperial
mathematician, and all of Brahe’s writings, instruments, and the Rudolphine tables were
passed on to him.
- From Brahe’s data, Kepler was able to formulate his laws of planetary motion: the law of
ellipses, the law of equal the law of ellipses, the law of equal areas, and the law of
harmonies.

Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion

First Law
The Law of Ellipses
First Law -The Law of Ellipses
When Kepler tried to figure out Mars’ orbit, it did not fit the then-famous theory that a
planet follows a circular path. He then postulated that instead of a circular path, planets follow
an oval or an ellipse orbit.
- This orbit matched his calculations and explained the “irregularities” in the movement of
Mars.
- He was able to formulate his first law of planetary motion, the law of ellipses which
describes that the actual path followed by the planets was elliptical, not circular, with the
Sun at one focus of the ellipse.

APHELION is the point in a planet‘s orbit that is farthest from the sun.
PERIHELION is the point in a planet’s orbit that is nearest to the sun.

Second Law
The Law of Equal Areas
Second Law -The Law of Equal Areas
The second law, which is the law of equal areas states that when an imaginary line is
drawn from the center of the Sun to the center of a planet, the line will sweep out an equal area
of space in equal time intervals.

Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion

The law describes how fast a planet moves in its orbit.
- A planet moves fastest when it is nearest the Sun and slowest when it is farthest from
the Sun, and still, the same area is swept out by the line in equal amounts of time.

Third Law
The Law of Harmonies
Third Law -The Law of Harmonies
The law of harmonies, which is the third law, describes that the square of a planet’s orbital
period (T2) is proportional to the cube of a planet’s average distance from the Sun (R3). It states
that that the ratio of the squares of the periods of two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of
the average distances of these two planets from the Sun or:
THE RESTLESS UNIVERSE